Step by step guide to increase resale value of your car

Just as gaining the ownership of car brings enormous happiness, its depreciation causes huge embarrassment to all of us. Doesn’t matter if you have bought a premium car, its value will depreciate sharply over a period of time. The value of most cars depreciate around 50 per cent within five years of purchase. You would have been worried knowing such devastating effects of depreciation in the car. But you can encounter all such adversities and fetch around 5-15 per cent higher price on the used car by following the points discussed below.

Regular maintenance-the key mantra to increase car’s resale value

If you want your car to command increased resale value, then take stock of its maintenance. People often make the mistake of not paying heed to this and end up worsening the condition of the car, thus drastically decreasing its resale value. Throughout the course of your ownership, you need to keep an eye on the maintenance of the car. Before you go to sell your car, ensure your engines are cleaned and flushed. Do replace certain perishable parts at regular intervals. Maintain the service record of the car as potential buyers will view it as an important criteria while buying your car.

Polish and wax your car

It may be tough for you to impart a brand new look to your used car. But polishing and shining could help you fetch good sale value of your used car. Prospective buyers can view the polished car as a good buy. You can visit some car care shops to clean up small gaps, plastic parts, tar marks, etc. You can apply superior wax on the car at home to make it look attractive. Do rectify any oil or fuel leaks from the engine.

Clean headlight

It is highly possible that the headlights of used cars get foggy over a period of time, evoking negative response from the buyers. You can use a number of headlight cleaning kits that offer instruction on cleaning the grime from the headlight. Many people clean the headlights using toothpaste and a soft cloth. But make sure you use polish to impart a shining look to the headlight lens. If you feel like doing all these things through others, you can take help of experience professionals. But it will bear some charge.

Clean interiors

It is extremely vital that you remodel the interiors of the car by cleaning the carpet, seats, floor mats, glass windows, switches, panels and AC vents. You may have to pay within the range of Rs 1,500-3,000 to get a complete car kit. You can apply car cleaning products of turtle wax, pidilite motomax and others.

Keep car exteriors in order

Keep exteriors like tyres, paints and coatings in perfect order so as to give an attractive look to your car.

Replace less expensive spare parts

Before selling the car, replace inexpensive spare parts such as brake pads, interior lights and wipers to give a refreshing look to your vehicle. Tighten lose parts or plastics and also take care of minor scratches and dents. Ensure you get back the money spent on refurbishing the car at the time of selling the car. You can get healthy returns on the investment made on refurbishing the car. It is anticipated that you can add up to Rs 30,000 in your car’s sale value.

Register on online portals

In a world of digitization, one can’t get confined to word of mouth alone to sell its products. You have to use digital channels to reach to a wider section of the population for selling your car. Post your sales on online portals like Carsalesindia.com, Quikr.com, OLX.com, Facebook, etc. You could snap a better deal for your car if you reach a higher number of potential buyers who would be willing to offer better prices for the vehicle.

Get your car inspected from a reputed company

Get your car inspected from reputed companies like Carwale.com, Tatamotorsassured.com (Exclusively for Tata cars), Autoinspekt.com, etc. These companies provide the certificate after inspecting your car. You can also check for the right market value of your car with such companies. You may have to shell out around Rs 2,000 to get a car inspection certificate.

Pay off the loan on your car first before selling

If the loan is running on your car, make sure you repay it before you sell the vehicle. The loan will tempt the potential buyers to bring down the resale value of your car. The reason why they may do it is because of the fact that they will have to repay the loan. So in a bid to lessen the loan pressure, they may offer you less price for the car.

Car insurance

Make sure you take accidental insurance on your car. Suppose if you have not claimed the sum on the car insurance, the resale value of the vehicle will get higher. But if you have availed the benefits of the insurance, the resale value will decrease.

Sell when the time is right

You can fetch 5-10 per cent higher price by selling the car at the right time. For instance, you should prefer to sell your car in Sep or Oct rather than Jan next year. Because if you avail the latter option, one more year would add to the age of the car.

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